Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s already Thursday here, and I am cooking a turkey as I write this. Several of us Americans, and one close Syrian friend, will be gathering late this afternoon for an evening dinner. I am bringing the turkey and stuffing. Others will bring the complementary dishes. Mmmm….
Then, we plan to watch a movie and/or try to stream one of the NFL games across the Internet, hoping to create a sense of Thanksgiving back home. Thanksgiving is my personal favorite holiday. So, I always want to make something out of it…no matter where I am at. It’s not quite the same here; but, just as when I was in the Navy overseas, you do the best you can to make it is nice as you are able.
To you and all of yours: A VERY HAPPY, HAPPY, SAFE AND ENJOYABLE THANKSGIVING!!!!
And, if you have a chance to give holiday greetings to one of our men or women serving in the Armed Forces, especially overseas, please do so. As someone who has served overseas, in the military, during the Holidays, I can tell you just how important it is to know your friends and family are thinking of you.
Please use a designated, sober driver if you drink during your festivities.
All Things Must End – But, Not This Blog
If you are one of the few people on the planet who does not yet know, I will be leaving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in December, just in time to be home for Christmas and New Years. My contract is ending, and there is no follow-on work to keep a number of us busy.
It’s sure going to be nice to be home, though I am not sure how we’ll fill the financial coffers. We’ll manage somehow. We always do. But, so far, the timing seems right to end this chapter in our lives. I’ll have more musings on this subject in the future.
The blog will not end. I have a lot more to say on many subjects. I’ll bet you’re shocked by that, huh?
I will be making some more posts in the next few weeks about KSA, including photo links to some cool pictures.
It’s The Little Things – 4
Continuing a discussion of things it is good to know if you’re coming to visit, live in, or work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1. A4 Paper – This will only apply to Americans, actually. In the U.S., the standard paper size is 8-1/2″ X 11″, or Letter size as it is also known. Because Americans believe themselves to be the center of the universe (and it’s true to some extent), they think everyone else in the world uses their standards. This is not the case…certainly not with paper size. The standard paper size over here is A4, which is slightly longer than Letter size. This can be disconcerting when you print out a document from Word, and it is set-up for Letter size, only to find the printer has A4 sheets in the feeder. To make it worse, some folks DO use Letter; so, you often won’t know what you are going to get until AFTER you print. So, you always need to check.
2. You Can’t Move Cars Involved In Accidents – Unlike in the U.S. (I don’t know about the UK or other European countries), you may NOT move a car involved in an accident here in Saudi Arabia. You will be arrested if you do so before the police tell you that you may. There are a lot of accidents in Riyadh, and this particular law causes an awful lot of traffic congestion issues. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was about to walk into a restaurant and witnessed a wreck occur across the street. The accident involved about six cars, on a major boulevard, so it caused a lot of havoc. Then, going the other way, two lookie-loo cars got into a wreck at the corresponding spot on the near side. More congestion. Each major boulevard or avenue has a service street parallel it on each side for easier and safer access to stores. Two more lookie-loos had another major wreck, with major damage at approximately the same spot. None of these cars could be moved until the police said they could be. We’re talking nearly three hours between the first accident to the clearance of the last automobile.
3. Dust, Dust, Everywhere Dust – I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas. That means dust. You can dust the house and come back an hour later to find more dust. It’s a way of life. It’s also about half the effort required to stay on top of the dust here in Riyadh. Even if you keep our windows closed, you will find layers of dust on everything, regardless how often you dust. Lots of folks employ maids (very cheap labor), so they don’t care. But, if you do your own housekeeping, this is one of the most frustrating aspects of living here. And, the dust is often red, which can wreak havoc on your white linens. Dust is always in the air. In fact, about the only time there is no dust in the air is right after a rain shower. Given how often it rains hear, maybe 3 times a year, you can imagine how much dust is floating in the air – even on a clear day.
A Well-Timed Compliment
I’ve sort of stalled, with regard to my weight-loss, since about the second week of August, rolling back and forth within a five-pound range, generally between 202 and 199. As one of my WW friends might say, I’ve been learning how to maintain…I just wanted to maintain a bit lower than where I am at now.
So, I’ve been kind of down recently about it, and trying to figure out how to get it jumpstarted DOWN again, and this negative thought and that negative thought…blah, blah, blah.
So, tonight, I stop at Starbucks to get a latte. A couple of the guys with whom I’ve become friendly were there. I had not seen either during Ramadan, so they had not seen me in over a month. One’s a well-educated Nepalese guy, the other a Saudi kid raised in Florida (who would love to go back there).
Both of them, at the same time, see me and say, “You’ve lost so much weight!!” They went on and on about how much I’d lost, how good I looked, how much smaller my stomach was now than it used to be. Man, I just let them go and soaked it ALL up.
Perspective. Although I still want to lose another 20 pounds, I am so much healthier and healthier looking than I was this time last year it is not even funny.
Sometimes, a well-timed compliment can do so much for you.
The End of Ramadan 4
My fourth Ramadan is coming to a close.
The Muslim holy month comes to a conclusion this Saturday, and Eid begins on Sunday. Things start getting back to normal after that. A lot of the restaurants and stores will be closed on the first day of Eid, as most Muslims will find their way to the Mosque – and spend the day with family – in much the same way we Westerners spend Christmas or Thanksgiving with our families. Eid lasts three days (five days in Saudi Arabia), but most non-Saudi Arabs I know only observe the first day, then return to work. The Saudis go for the gusto. In fact, the government workers have been on holiday since Tuesday. If things go as they have the past three years, King Abdullah will extend the holiday by an extra week, and it takes them a day to get through greetings upon their return before they actually get back to work.
For the Westerners, the primary change comes with being able to get coffee on the way to work in the mornings, as well as being able to go to lunch and not have to pay an exorbitant price at some hotel – where they hide you deep in the dark center of the structure so no one can see you and the other infidels ignoring the Ramadan fasting strictures.
I say that Eid begins on Sunday, but that actually depends on if a group of religious scholars see the new waxing moon Saturday night or not. Each country has their own group who defines the start and end of Ramadan. Usually, all the countries agree on the start and end; but, last year there was controversy, and both Iraq and Syria said that Ramadan started and ended one day after all the other Islamic countries said it started and ended. This year, there has been no such controversy.
The first year I experienced Ramadan, I did so with a some trepidation, having never been through it before then. But, after four of them, it’s not that big a deal. There are ways to make do if you’re intelligent about it. I haven’t starved, yet.
If you’re interested, or simply don’t remember, you can do a search on this blog using the key words Ramadan and iftar to read what I wrote about the past three Ramadans. I go into more detail in those entries.
Eid mubarak!
The Language Learning Curve – 2
I apologize for taking so long to get back to this subject, but a few events have intervened. Plus, I realized that I have way too much info to devote only one post to online language learning resources. I’m going to have to use several such posts on that subject alone.
I want to highlight the Podcast101 family of sites today, which are partial-pay sites. That is, they rope you in with substantial free resources, then get you to pay for an expanded set of resources.
Let’s start with the site to which I subscribe, ArabicPod101.com. Don’t be put off by the fact I’ve highlighted the Arabic language site…there are eleven (11) different Pod101.com language sites operated by Innovative Solutions. An individual can learn Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, English, or a slew of Survival Phrases in any of these languages. I came across this organization via their Survival Phrases podcast, which is available in limited numbers for free on the iTunes website, as are the podcasts associated with all their language courses.
On the website, a student can download all of the podcasts (both audio and video) for free, as well as a PDF document associated with the lesson. The video podcasts are also available via YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. With payment, the student gets a line-by-line transcript page with audio, a vocabulary word bank, the ability to create flashcards based on the saved words in the word bank, a voice recorder, and the ability to obtain all of the podcasts (both audio and video) via a single, customized feed in iTunes. The latter is very handy.
I’ve never used the voice recorder, and it did not work when I tested it for this post. I plan to contact their customer service group, which was very helpful when I had a problem getting the video podcasts to download via my customized feed to iTunes.
The lessons generally cover one theme, and the vocabulary is small enough to retain easily. The lessons run from about 7 minutes (Survival Phrases) up to 15 or 16 minutes for detailed themes. The audio is professional – more so, perhaps, than the video – but, the video is pretty good, too, except for the volume level of the music. There are also cultural notes provided for download, which are very interesting.
Be careful of regional differences in the target language. In Arabic, there are many regional dialects, though the most common would be Egyptian due to their ubiquitous movie and TV industry. I have found it necessary to double-check some things I learned in the ArabicPod101 lessons with my native-Arabic speaking friends here in Riyadh, who speak yet another version of Arabic. The original lessons were in Modern Standard Arabic, which is formal; but, they’ve now settled in with Egyptian Arabic. We’ll see how that goes.
On the whole, I am pretty happy with this approach to Arabic, which functions as just one of the many prongs in my efforts to learn the language. Your mileage may vary.
Next time, we’ll discuss Livemocha.com.
Signs of Feline Life in the Stark Desert
A thin veil of dust lays across my car like
gauzy muslin across an end table.
Sliding in behind the wheel, I see
paddy-pawprints on my windshield,
and my lips curl upward into a smile
- signs of feline life in the stark desert.
copyright 2009, Greg Hubbard
Whoooooooosh!
We’re 1 1/2 weeks into Ramadan (#4 for me), and I met a friend for Iftar last night.
I get on the highway to the restaurant, and it so quiet. No traffic. Empty. Nice quiet trip. Little danger of an accident. Wait…what’s that in my rearview mirro?!
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!
The wind shakes my care as I roll down the freeway. Some sort of white car has just rocketed by me – left me sitting still. I looked down at my speedometer, and I am doing 120kph (75mph). He was going at least 200kph (125mph) or faster. I’m glad the freeway was empty.
For a full discussion of Ramadan, search this blog for “Ramadan” and “Iftar.” Feel free to post any questions you may have.
In Memoriam: Evelyn Nash Williams Thom Strohmaier
My mother-in-law, Evie Strohmaier, died today at the age of 96. She died peacefully in her sleep. A person can’t ask for much more than that.
I’d be hard-pressed to name someone I’ve known in my life who was a better person than Evie. I mean that sincerely and not as a platitude. In a world characterized by mother-in-law jokes, harsh depictions of mothers-in-law, and husbands and wives doing anything they can to avoid their mothers-in-law, I was blessed with one of the kindest, warmest, and most genuine women on the planet as my mother-in-law. There are an awful lot of folks who will agree with me, an awful lot of people with empty spots in their hearts right now.
I was doubly blessed in the fact that she liked me…a fact she made clear on more than one occasion, both to me and to her daughter. Before we moved to Oregon so that Cristina could care for her parents, before they hit their 90s and age slowed them down significantly, Ed and Evie often came to San Diego. During those visits, Evie and I often talked about this or that – innocuous conversations. Except, they were never truly innocuous. If you really took a moment to examine what was said, the crafty ol’ gal was checking out just how I was treating her daughter and grandson and great-granddaughter. Apparently, I passed muster.
Evie was born in Blue Hill, Maine on October 31, 1912. She seemed to take special delight in the fact she was born on Halloween. It was so against ‘type,’ and it brought a mischievous twinkle to her eyes each year, matching her very dry razor wit. A very New England wit. She lived in Maine for over 40 years, and it showed, particularly in the way she downplayed a lot of the things she did in her life. She, or my wife, would tell me these stories about things Evie did through the years – things that most people would find kind of exciting. Evie would respond, a little grin on her mouth, “It was fun.” And, we’d move on without much ceremony.
She was an independent woman. According to my wife, this proved the case until close to the end. As such, Evie didn’t much appreciate the realities of aging. When I was home last Christmas, she fell a couple of days prior my having to leave and go back to work in Saudi Arabia. She was still in the hospital when I left, and true to form, she was more concerned that Cristina and I were not able to be alone that last couple of days than with the fact she was in not such good shape. That’s who she was.
The last time I saw her, she was lying in a hospital bed…sort of belying the very vital woman I knew for nearly 20 years. I’ve decided not to remember her that way. Rather, I’m going to remember the woman who offered a quiet, but haughty, little smile whenever she managed to beat my socks off at Scrabble. I’m going to remember the woman who worked in the church serving line at the soup kitchen into her 80s. I am going to remember the woman who would bounce out of her chair and snap into action mode whenever a friend needed her. That’s who I will remember.
I’m burning a candle for you today, Evie…
bright red, with a spicy scent that
fills the room with memories of Halloween and
the Fall season into which you were born.
It’s the only candle I could find,
and some might think it odd
to burn a red candle for a woman
who neared a century of life.
But, I know about you rushing out the
door to meet the ship;
weekends at the Plaza and the party in the Embassy.
Not buried as one – in ignorance – might think,
a little flame flickered safely in a special place,
carefully cultivated like a prized orchid,
ready to burn brightly when the moment,
like a fanning breeze,
brightened everyone’s day.
Copyright 2009, Greg Hubbard
Surreal Moment #3
Commercial on Saudi TV just now for a monster truck rally to be held in Jeddah. I guess the camel fights are out this year.
